Breeding

by Phil Doyle
(Weymouth , Ma.)

My lovebirds are about 11 months old I saw them mating several times and they laid eggs approximately 2 weeks after mating , 5 eggs 1 egg every other day but the eggs are not fertile I have two questions 1)what would cause the eggs to be infertile 2) more importantly should I take out the eggs or let the birds take care of them I don't want to stress the mother lovebird and also don't want her laying eggs again right away what should I do

Comments for Breeding

Leaving the eggs in there can pose a problem of birds breaking them and eating the contents. Consider unfertile eggs like regular chicken eggs which will become rotten in a short period of time.

I think your birds are just not ready to successfully breed yet, and this could have something to do with diet and exercise. Breeders have to be eating a high quality organic pelleted diet like Harrisons to get in breeding condition. Also, they need room to fly around to get exercise they need. If your birds are on an all seed diet, possibilities are they are just not healthy enough to breed. They could also be incubating some kind of infection which will also prevent successful breeding.

Also, breeders have to be examined by an Avian Vet prior to breeding to make sure there are no infections present. Infections are passed directly onto the babies, and this means dead babies if they are not treated immediately.

So, you may wish to start over at another time with this. Take out nest box and allow birds to go back to normal behaviors. Hen may lay a few more eggs or she may not. The nestbox is usually the stimulus needed to start laying though not always.

Here is a link about how to go about changing birds from seeds to pellets, and it takes quite a bit of time. Article was written by an Avian Vet, so is sound advice. We carry several kinds of the organic pellets here for you to look at.